Following closely in Facebook’s footsteps is Twitter, which just announced new targeting options for Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts.

These options will help you share relevant content with the most appropriate audience. Unlike Facebook‘s option — which focuses on things like age and relationship status — Twitter’s targeting is based on interests.

You can target members in one of two ways: categories or usernames. Through the former, you can choose from 350 different areas of interests, which are then broken down into more specific categories. For example, Movies and Television can be broken down by animation, comedy, drama, and so on.

Depending on the content of your advertisement, you’ll likely select multiple areas of interest. If you’re looking for something a bit more precise, you can target specific usernames, and the ads will reach people with similar interests to the followers of that person.

It’s important to note that you’re not actually targeting the followers of that member. For example, people following @Starbucks are likely interested in coffee. Although you won’t be able to target those followers specifically, an audience will be constructed based around that interest.

This could potentially have a major impact on your Twitter advertising campaign. The company has seen significant improvements in audience reach during beta testing. “Across the board, they are seeing higher engagement rates because they are reaching users who are interested in their content,” stated Kevin Well, product management director.

Twitter also announced that it’s lowering the minimum bid (Promoted Products are auction-based) from 50 cents to one cent. Winners are determined by engagement rate and bids, so you can win even if others bid higher.

[Image credit: Maria Hagglof]